In the upcoming film Dead Before Dawn 3D there is a beautiful hidden message reflecting the current state of our environment …. A message that secretly encourages society to go green Before Dawn, or else death.

Now this is not entirely true, but our modest, on-set efforts may provide small-scale solutions to very big problems.

Dead before Dawn (DBD) 3D is a fast-paced adventure comedy….supported by Telefilm Canada and is indeed Canada’s first 3D film. Despite the film’s large scale and high kinetic energy, the project’s grounded set of young producers worked to make their brainchild as ‘green’ as possible.

April Mullen and Tim Doiron are worldly people with a keen awareness of society’s current effects on the global climate. From day one of shooting, they made a concerted effort to implement numerous sustainability practices including reduced carbon emissions, reduced material sent to landfills and more.

Here are the highlights, demonstrating a significant reduction of environmental impacts in an industry notorious for its disposable ways.

• CATERING - the substantials were delivered in re-usable containers every 3 hours, avoiding the usual styrofoam (infused with CFC and landfill poison) and other wasteful delivery packaging. The craft table was made up entirely of re-usable packaging and avoided individually packaged/disposable treats.
  
  
• WATER - rather than disposable plastic water bottles, the DBD cast and crew were given self-labeled, re-usable water containers - also referred to as “Sippy Cups” to be filled at one of two bulk water stations. Since the film was shot in scolding HOT July, we avoided the use of an estimated 10,000 350 ml plastic water bottles and discouraged the water bottle industry by doing so.
• WASTE - recycling bins were established throughout the set and in the production office, where recycled items were properly disposed of at local recycling centers.
• SET DESIGN - much of the prop and set design was recycled and re-used materials and when that wasn’t available the production design team went out of their way to loan and rent necessary equipment rather than purchase and dispose.
• SHARING - the cast and crew got close in their fight to save the planet by sharing shuttles.
• TRANSPORTATION - the film was shot entirely in the Niagara Region, reducing the distance between locations and lowering overall fuel consumption low. There was also a no-idling policy for all vehicles, as this is when car’s catalytic converters spew some of their most noxious chemicals.
• HOTEL - the cast and crew agreed to have their rooms cleaned only once a week, saving on the towels, linen, water and cleaning supplies being used.
• GENERATORS - the production kept all electrical sourcing to one main generator.
• COMMUNICATION - most communication was done electronically through emails, but as necessary all call sheets were printed in a tiny font on double sided half sheets.
• 3D DIGITAL the film was shot on memory cards & hard drives instead of film and tape, saving over 200,000 feet of film
• REDUCED DVD DAILIES by using external hard drives and USB keys
• SHOT ONLY ON LOCATION - there were no studio sets, almost eliminating the use and subsequent waste of construction materials.
• BACKGROUND - all local patrons were used for background reducing the fuel consumption of transportation
• POST PRODUCTION - the producers used Bixi Bike to get to the post-production editing suites, all the while using a tapeless format to negate any physical processing of film and the waste that accompanies a non-digital format.

www.deadbeforedawnthemovie.com